Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1887-09-30
-xo.rlna BEAR HUM.
ar,srly aud a Kattissnake ut the
NAL .-.,om of y Zig Hole.

n
hsA Hottom OF = BiR beie-
oyed Zeke, who hunts for liv-
oa round Owen lake and along Owen
ins aver in Inyo. came In the other
rlvo, - he doctored for a spraincd ankle.
c cg.;,;no that ankle saved his life on
1 ll,. Last trip. Zeke has scheme OF
~, ~, own for killing grizzlies that Is
~. efYectiye II man has nerve
wy ,oh to work it and his gun doesn't
en a. fire. He carries heavy double
a ,n' shotgun and a 44-ealiber re-
u but never Tugs a rifle even
chen he goes after bears. When he
s s grizzly he pops at him with the
.a,olver and gets him mad, standing
~ the open where the bear can see
him, and shooting often enough to dis
nol anv possible doubts in the bears
ppodd,e about the annoyance.
A grizzly will go his own way usual
/. e not interfered with, but il insulted
9th pistol-shots he is pretty certain to
make a disturbance Of the peace. The
axosperated bear snaps viciously at the
nlace where the pistol-ball strikes him,
Concludes that Zeke is responsible for
tbe trouble and goes tor him. Zeke
watts calmly with double load of heavy
shot in each barrel and the hammers
at full cock. Caleb comes right up to
him. and when almost within hugging
distance rises on his hind legs to throw
himself upon Zeke. Then Zcke turns
loose both barrels at the bears chest,
and blows hole as big as two fists
nearly through him. The heavy charge
Al such close range smashes the griz-
zlv's interior works in deplorable
manner, and he dies right away. 1t
Is far more effective than an express
ride-bullet. But it requires nerve to
face big, ugly bear and reserve fire
until he is within half dozen feet OF
the gun.
i Zeke met bear in the mountains
near Owen lake and played his GUS
tomary game, but not with complete
success. By some extraordinary bad
luck, both cartridges in his gun had
defective primers, and when he pulled
the triggers he was very much puzzled
and disappointed by the absence Of the
usual loud report. 1t was critical
moment for Zeke. 1t took him the
tbousandth part of second to grasp
the situation and spring desperately to
the right. Another small fraction of a
second was consumed in his unexpect-
ed descent to the bottom of an old
prospect hole that was overgrown with
brush and escaped his notice.
Probably that is the only prospect
hole in that part of the Sierra Nevada,
and it must have been dug by some
half cracked Forty miner like Marshall,
who prospected all the way from Yuma
to the Columbia. Zeke VOWS it was
dug by Providence.
The sudden and unaccountable dis
appearance of the old man with a gun
surprised the bear, and he had thrown
himself forward and plunged into the
chapparal several yards before he be-
gan to catch on to the fact that Zeke
was not before him. As soon as Zeke
struck bottom he looked up to see il
the bear was coming down, too, and
then he removed the bad cartridges
and quickly inserted two more in his
gun. He knew the bear would smell
him out very soon.
In half minute Caleb's wicked
snout appeared at the top of the hole.
1t disappeared, and was at once re-
placed by the bears hind legs. Caleb
was coming down stern foremost after
the noxious person who had fired bull
lets at him. AS the bear scrambled
down zeke aimed just under his shout
der and sent two handfuls of buckshot
careering through his vitals in a dag
onal line. The wound was almost in
SANITY fatal, and the bear came down
in heap at the bottom of the hole,
which was about ten or twelve feet
deep
The excitement being over, Zeke
realized that he had been injured in the
iali' and that standing up was painful.
lie sat down on the bear to rest and
reflect and to induce reflection he took
ont his pipe and lighted it. The flare
o. the match lighted up the prospect
hole' and Zeke was interested in seeing
good-sized rattlesnake lying dead un.
aef his feet. its head crushed by his
ooot-heel. He had landed on the snake
when he fell into the hole, and the
SHIPPING of his foot had sprained his
ankle.
Aeke had a hard time climbing Out
ol the prospect hole and getting back
70 camp, but he got there, and sem
some men up to hoist the bear to the
surface. The grizzly's weight was es
.,mated to be nine hundred pounds
Aeke says he doesn't care about tn,
sprain, because if his foot had NOV
landed just in that spot he would hav,
laa more company than he would hav,
'afeu 10 entertain at the bottom of :
prospect hole,-Caliente (CaL Cor. N
If the relative mortality of al
eiaies aged from twenty-five to sixty
o years be taken as one thousand
Tile pXnnntinNo1